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2009-06-30

Ponyo DVD, Blu-Rays Delayed in Japan

Courtesy of GhibliWiki (the Nausicaa.net crew), the Japanese DVD and Blu-Ray release of the making-of documentary, "How Ponyo Was Born," is being delayed until December. The deluxe edition, "Ponyo Special DVD Box" is being delayed as well. "Circumstances in production" is the official reason given, which suggests a need to shore up supplies for the busy holiday season.

As far as I am aware, the standard DVD of Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea will still be released in July (next week, in fact), and the Blu-Ray will appear in December.

These, of course, are all the Japanese releases. There is no official word on North American DVD or Blu-Ray for Ponyo. I would certainly hope to see something in time for Christmas; in fact, I am expecting it. The short theater-to-home window fits this perfectly, and was likely a factor in the movie's August release.

7 comments:

Chris said...

You scared me to death!

As you might know, I'm living in Tokyo, and I pre-ordered the normal Ponyo DVD which is being released Friday here. I've been insanely excited counting down the days. Just two more. I will finally get to see this film!

Then I saw your headline: Ponyo DVD Delayed in Japan! My heart stopped. But then I saw it's the making of DVD. Ever so slowly, my pulse returned.

Why did you do that to me?!

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

Because I've been doing that to myself the past few days, while dealing with "lost" money issues with a) my landlord, and b) my plane tickets to Bogota. So, heck, if I'm going to go through the entire St. Anger album in my head, I might as well share with everyone else. :P

Actually, I didn't expect that headline to be shocking or upsetting. There are several Ponyo DVDs being released this year, after all. And they're already heavily committed to the DVD release of the film. These other two discs are extras, really.

Just remember to breathe and throw on a good vinyl copy of Led Zeppelin III. I've got two in case anyone needs a spare.

neo1024 said...

The only problem with those extras is that they are not translated to English. I hope they will use the extra time to make English subs...

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

The bonus features on the Ghibli DVDs are never subtitled, only the feature films. Our only hope lies in Disney releasing those bonus materials here in North America, or waiting for someone to create a fansub.

Since the Ponyo documentary is a standard feature on the Blu-Ray, I would expect it to appear on the US version, as well. After all, greater storage space is one of the BR selling points.

Thinking about this, I would have to believe that the bonus material from the Japanese BR would appear on the US version. But I'm being optimistic. Much of this depends on how successful Ponyo is once it hits theaters. If it becomes a hit, Disney will put more care and attention into the Blu-Ray. If it, however, appears and disappears after a week, there won't be much motivation to invest the time or money.

As always, these are just my own personal guesses at the moment.

Chris said...

As I type this, my new Ponyo DVD is before me!

I can't wait to watch it!

blauereiter said...

The delay is very unusual indeed, especially when it was only reported close to the supposedly release date. I can imagine shops and distributors cursing because of the swamp of unhappy customers asking why it was delayed. Hmm...the end of the year is a long time to wait...

Chris said...

About 101 minutes later . . .


. . . Magnificent!

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